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Its hard to say what Ayn Rand would think about our current superhero boom.
But it should not be forgotten that she saw power in the pulps.
This is something of a tragedy.
And bold, shining heroes like Buck can be just the thing.
Which brings us toThe Incredibles.
But when a jealous would-be super-champion named Syndrome tries to kill the patriarch, Mr.
They triumph, and a grateful public rejoices.
From the very beginning, commentators saw Objectivist parallels in the story.
In his review of the film for the New YorkTimes, A.O.
Before we go any further, we should point out that Bird thinks this is all total bullshit.
I think it got misinterpreted a few times, hetoldIGNs Andy Patrizio in 2005.
Some people said it was Ayn Rand or something like that, which is ridiculous.
One thing typically missing from this ongoing conversation in mainstream film criticism: the voices of actual Objectivists.
Thats not entirely surprising, given the generally liberal bent of top movie punditry.
But we couldnt help but wonder: WhatdoRand devotees think ofThe Incredibles?
These achievers, society fails to appreciate and even resents them.
That theme exists in Ayn Rands novels, particularlyThe FountainheadandAtlas Shrugged.
But the story ofThe Incredibles, its not really focused on that.
Its focused on the family, not the wider society.
Ghate also has an interesting nitpick, one having to do with Mr. Incredibles secret identity.
Thats a very stereotypical view of the insurance industry, he says.
Rands view is that the whole field of business is a heroic field.
you could have people who are bad actors, but business is creative and built the modern world.
There are no parallels there she has the opposite view [from the movie].
In his eyes, the key parallel is the way the Incredibles improve the world by being themselves.
Her protagonists are exceptional, stylized ideals, but theyre not technically superhuman.
The strongest note is the idea that the world needs these exceptional people to keep running.
But when it comes to Syndrome, Ghate is skeptical that he fits the ideal of a Randian villain.
Hes a standard Bond kind of villain, an evil-genius scientist, says Ghate.
Incredible and the others, he has built something incredible out of himself.
Thats not the way Ayn Rand thinks of villains.
For her, villains are impractical and incompetent.
They dont want to have to achieve and produce.
And as forIncredibles 2?
We wont spoil it, but its not nearly as Randian as the first one.
When we go to the movies, I dont think of it that way, he says.
But its not a sermon.
In other words, sometimes Buck Rogers is just Buck Rogers.
